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Journal of Virology, October 2007, p. 10699-10711, Vol. 81, No. 19
0022-538X/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JVI.01213-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 C-Terminal Variants of the Origin Binding Protein (OBP), OBPC-1 and OBPC-2, Cooperatively Regulate Viral DNA Levels In Vitro, and OBPC-2 Affects Mortality in Mice

Department of Medicine,¹ Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Program in Virology, Harvard Medical School at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02215²

Received 2 June 2007/ Accepted 10 July 2007

Two in-frame, C-terminal isoforms of the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) origin binding protein (OBP), OBPC-1 and OBPC-2, and a unique C-terminal transcript, UL8.5, are specified by HSV-1 DNA. As the first isoform identified, OBPC-1 was initially assumed to be the product of the UL8.5 transcript. Recent evidence has demonstrated, however, that OBPC-1 is a cathepsin B-mediated cleavage product of OBP, suggesting that OBPC-2 is the product of the UL8.5 transcript. Because both OBPC-1 and -2 contain the majority of the OBP DNA binding domain, we hypothesized that both may be involved in regulating origin-dependent, OBP-mediated viral DNA replication. In this paper, we demonstrate that OBPC-2 is, indeed, the product of the UL8.5 transcript. The translational start site of OBPC-2 was mapped, and a virus (M571A) that does not express this protein efficiently was constructed. Using M571A, we have shown that OBPC-2 is able to bind origin DNA, even though it lacks seven N-terminal amino acid residues of the previously mapped OBP DNA binding domain, resulting in a revision of the limits of the OBP DNA binding domain. Consistent with their proposed roles in regulating viral DNA replication, OBPC-1 and -2 act together to down-regulate viral DNA replication in vitro. During functional studies in vivo, OBPC-2 was identified as a factor that increases mortality in the mouse ocular model of HSV-1 infection.

Published ahead of print on 18 July 2007.

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